Armenian lawmaker highly appraises Armenian diplomacy in settlement of Karabakh conflict

YEREVAN, July 18. /ARKA/. Aram Safaryan, the secretary of Prosperous Armenia Party’s faction in National Assembly, thinks Armenian diplomacy doesn’t lose in settlement of Karabakh conflict.

Speaking at a press conference on Friday, the lawmaker said that some Armenian media outlets are permanently using Azerbaijani sources to show weakness of Armenian diplomats.

He pointed out that Armenian Foreign Ministry is working out its foreign policy concept, which will have a favorable impact on the settlement.

Earlier, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said that the concept would be unveiled for public discussions.

Karabakh conflict broke out in 1988 when Artsakh, mainly populated by Armenians, declared its independence from Azerbaijan.

On December 10, 1991, a few days after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a referendum took place in Nagorno-Karabakh, and the majority of the population (99.89%) voted for secession from Azerbaijan.

Afterwards, large-scale military operations began. As a result, Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven regions adjacent to it.

On May 12, 1994 Bishkek cease-fire agreement, put an end to the military operations.

Since 1992, negotiations over the peaceful settlement of the conflict have been carried out under the OSCE Minsk Group’s mediation. The group is co-chaired by USA, Russia and France. M.V.-0---